Deseret
|image_flag = Flag of Deseret.png |alt_flag = |image_flag2 = |alt_flag2 = |image_coat = Coat of arms of Deseret.svg |alt_coat = |symbol_type = National arms |national_motto = Industry (official) Believe in God; believe that He is ( ; }}) |national_anthem = Arise, O Glorious Zion |royal_anthem = God, Country, and Crown |other_symbol_type = |other_symbol = |image_map = Map of the Deseret.png |alt_map = |map_caption = Map of the Deseret and its five areas |image_map2 = |alt_map2 = |map_caption2 = |capital = Salt Lake City |latd= 34 | latm= 03 | latNS= N |longd= 118 |longm= 15 |longEW= E |largest_city = capital |official_languages = , Serran |demonym = Deseretian(s) |regional_languages = |ethnic_groups = 86% White 2% Asian 1% Black 1% Native Sierran 1% Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander 9% Mixed or other |ethnic_groups_year = 2010 |government_type = |leader_title1 = Queen |leader_name1 = Angelina II ( ) |leader_title2 = President |leader_name2 = Jeremiah Tanner |legislature = Council of Fifty |upper_house = |lower_house = |sovereignty_type = within the Kingdom of Sierra |sovereignty_note = |established_event1 = Formation |established_date1 = June 13, 1874 |established_event2 = Territorial status |established_date2 = February 4, 1878 |established_event3 = Organic Act of 1896 |established_date3 = August 22, 1896 |established_event4 = Country status |established_date4 = June 23, 1950 |membership = Kingdom of Sierra |membership_type = Sovereign state |area = |area_km2 = 219,887 |area_sq_mi = 84,899 |area_footnote = |percent_water = 3.25 |area_label = Total |area_label2 = |area_data2 = |population_estimate = |population_estimate_rank = |population_estimate_year = |population_census = 2,763,885 |population_census_year = 2010 |population_density_km2 = |population_density_sq_mi = |population_density_rank = |GDP_PPP = $82 billion |GDP_PPP_rank = |GDP_PPP_year = 2010 |GDP_PPP_per_capita = $29,668 |GDP_PPP_per_capita_rank = |GDP_nominal = |GDP_nominal_rank = |GDP_nominal_year = |GDP_nominal_per_capita = |GDP_nominal_per_capita_rank = |Gini = |Gini_ref = |Gini_rank = |Gini_year = |HDI = |HDI_ref = |HDI_rank = |HDI_year = |currency = Sierran dollar ($) |currency_code = KSD |time_zone = PST |utc_offset = −7 |time_zone_DST = MST |utc_offset_DST = −6 |DST_note = |date_format = dd-mm-yyyy |drives_on = Right |cctld = .ks |iso3166code = KS |official_website = www.deseret.gc.ks |calling_code = +1 |patron_saint = |footnote_a = |footnote_b = |footnote_h = |footnotes = }}The Deseret ( : ��������������, Serran: ) is a that forms one of the three parts of the Kingdom of Sierra (the others being Hawaii and Sierra). It shares a border with Sierra to the west and south, Rainier and Missouri to the north, and Brazoria to the east. The Deseret has a population of nearly 3 million, 80% of whom live in the region of the around the capital, Salt Lake City. Featuring a government, exerts and wields tremendous power in the Deseret, with its organization and leadership incorporated into the framework of the Deseretian government. It is the only government in the Americas. The model of government is directly inspired from the system church leader attempted to implement during the 1850s. When the Deseret was a territory of Sierra, it unilaterally during the Sierran Civil War. Following the war, the Deseret was granted substantial although its government was officially and lacked the religious elements the modern government has today. The modern government and status of the Deseret as a constituent country of the Kingdom was established through the Charter for the Kingdom of Sierra in 1950 when it, along with Hawaii and Sierra were reorganized into co-equal parts of the Kingdom, sharing a unified national government, legislature, and monarch. Over 80% of the Deseret's citizens are , most of whom are descendants of early Mormon settlers in the region who came from the . The Canaanites, a non-Christian with similar background and development, forms the next largest group in the Deseret, accounting for 10% of the population as a visible minority. According to international human rights groups, Canaanites have been treated as s, largely because they and other non-Mormons are legally barred from holding most political posts. Historically, the Mormons and Canaanites held a bitter rivalry, fighting for control over the Deseret and other portions of North America. The most violent of these conflicts occurred during the Canaanite-Mormon War, a war that happened simultaneously with the Sierran Civil War. Although tensions have eased over the decades since then, Canaanites remain largely underrepresented in the Mormon-dominated government, and their status remains a controversial and contentious issue for the Deseret. Both groups have great influence on the country's culture and daily life, with the Canaanites' Serran language one of the country's official languages (the other being English). Although the Deseret is a part of the Kingdom, its political and social history remains distinctively separate from Sierra. In addition, it retains its own legal system which is a combination of - and law applied directly from the , the , and the other . It has its own , the unicameral Council of Fifty, whose members are elected from one of the 50 counties, areas of which are organized by the Church, not the state (which are only administratively binding to the state and have no purpose within the Church administrative organization). Although the is established by the Deseret, the official religion in the Deseret is Mormonism, with the Church of the Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as the state church. Although while in theory, the President of the Deseret can be a non-Mormon (as there is no law expressively prohibiting this), the President is also, by constitutional stipulation, the President of the Church, who is selected by the . Since the Deseret's incorporation, all of its presidents have been Mormon and members of the church leadership. Etymology The name "Deseret" is a term derived from the , one of the holy books of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and other Latter Day Saint movements. According to the book, "deseret" meant in the language of the , one of the four groups whom Mormons believed settled in ancient America. When the Mormons settled the Deseret, then known as unorganized territory, church leader and territory governor recommended using the name as a symbol of industry. Encouraging church members to be productive and self-sufficient as honeybees are, the name was formalized when Parliament approved the Mormons' petition for local organized government. History Pre-Colombian era The earliest indication of habitation has been dated about 10,000 to 12,000 years ago. The original inhabitants of the region were Paleolithic Indians who lived in the 's ancient swamplands. By 8000 BC, these peoples were supplanted by the Desert Archaic people who lived in caves near the . As the lake grew and access to food receded, the population declined, possibly leaving the area uninhabited for about 1,000 years before the arrival of the (Anasazi) in 100 AD and the people in 600 to 1300 AD who lived in villages. Both tribes were members of the Ute-Aztec Native American group, and interacted with other through trade, and shared various, common features endemic to the American Southwestern tribes of that period. By 1200 BC however, possibly due to climate change, both peoples moved away from the region towards the modern Arizonan provinces and western Brazoria. Around 1200 AD, the arrived in the region, and lived in hunting-gathering societies who made extensive use of local roots and seeds. They possessed limited agricultural technology, and thus were able to grow some crops, and were skillful fishermen and pottery makers. There were four main, distinct Shoshonean tribes: the (north and northeast), the s (northwest), the (central and east), and the (southwest). During the early 16th century, at some point, a group of -speaking moved into the American Southwest from the Great Plains of present-day Missouri, and inhabited land around . The Athabaskan peoples were hunters who followed their traditional source of food and sustenance, the , and had expanded their territory into lands abandoned by the Pueblo people. While interactions between the Shoshoneans and Athabaskans were generally peaceful, there were occasional periods of conflict between the two groups. By the time the Europeans arrived to the Deseret, there were five main groups within the Deseret: the Northern Shoshone, the Goshute, the Ute, the Paiutes, and the Navajo. European exploration The Spanish were the first, perhaps, the only Europeans who explored the Deseret during the Age of Exploration, although compared to other parts of Spanish North America, Spanish presence in the region was minimal. The Spanish explorer may have traveled through southern Deseret in 1540 while on the search for the legendary . In 1776, the , an expeditionary group led by two Spanish Franciscan priests, set off from and traveled across the Deseret, even chancing upon , during their trip towards the Sierran coasts. In the early 19th century, fur trappers of various nationalities explored parts of the region, although the Deseret would remain mostly untouched by man until the arrival of Mormon and Canaanite pioneers. Mormon and Canaanite settlement The first Mormon pioneers arrived to on July 24, 1847. The Mormons were escaping persecution from the United States, following the death of their leader, , in . which by the time they came, had been seized by the from Mexico in the Mexican-American War. The claims of America, Brazoria, and California to Mexico's captured territories were finalized with the , thus transferring the Deseret to the hands of the Americans. The area on which the Mormons settled had no permanent Indian presence. The Shoshone tribes lived further in the and in the valleys to the east of the Salt Lake. It would only take a few years later before the Mormons continued expanding, encroaching Indian lands. Although the Indians petitioned to maintain rights to their land, the U.S. government ignored these demands as it treated the entirety of the Deseret as well as much of its western possessions as public domain. Led by , the second President of the LDS Church, who was accepted as the successor to , the Mormons sought to create a large nation in the American West based on the principles of Christian communalism and theocracy. The Mormons founded various settlements across the Deseret including and , and beyond, such as Las Vegas in Clark, and in the Inland Empire. Around this same time, Canaanites, members of a non-Abrahamic , religion, moved from and Brazoria to the , creating their own communities. Initially, as both the Mormons and Canaanites lived and congregated in non-overlapping areas, there was peaceful coexistence between the two, mainly due to the minimal interaction and geographical isolation of the both. Young proposed the formal creation of the to the United States Congress in the early 1850s, but his proposal was rejected, with the U.S. Congress instead creating the , which was vastly smaller than the state envisioned by Young. The Utah Territory included much of present-day Deseret, all of the Sierran provinces of Washumko, Reno, and Eureka, and parts of Clark and San Joaquin, as well as western Canaan, and the southwestern portion of the Missourian state of . Young was made the Territory's first governor, and under his leadership, he was intimately close with the organization and development of the Territory in both secular and spiritual matters. As Canaanite settlements pushed northward, into Mormon territory, dialogue and interaction increased, and were initially cordial. Brigham Young, who had argued for peace and friendship with the American Indian tribes, extended the same rhetoric with the Canaanites whom he perceived as just, faithful people, despite not being Christian for that matter. Likewise, the Canaanites, under their leader James More, also embraced friendship and cooperation with the Mormons, whom they viewed as brethren united in their struggle to survive in the West, and free from the persecution they had suffered in the East. In 1857, President sent federal troops to Utah to establish American military order and control over the Territory. The Mormons misconstrued the deployment as an existential threat to their existence, as the Church for many years came into conflict with the United States government, primarily on the Church's promotion of the widespread practice of " " or . Brigham Young himself had several wives, as did Joseph Smith when he was still alive, and these practices were met with vehement condemnation by non-Mormons in the East. Seeking to defend themselves, the Mormons mobilized defenses under the (whose total numbers ranged from 8,000-10,000 men). Young commanded the people to evacuate their homes and businesses, which he ordered be burnt, and made preparations to flee to the southwestern region of Utah while the defense would block U.S. Army entry into Salt Lake Valley, in hopes of delaying their advance. Despite being later known as the " ", there was little actual fighting and bloodshed, as the conflict was limited to small-scale skirmishes and some destruction of property. However, during the conflict, a group of local Mormon militiamen ambushed a civilian caravan of American pioneers who were traveling to California. More than 120 unarmed Americans including women and children, were killed, and the incident became known as the . Despite this incident, and a few others (the ), the U.S. government pardoned Young and other Mormon leaders, under the condition that the Mormons would accept the leadership of a non-Mormon governor. Acquiescing, was named the new governor of Utah. During the entirety of the yearlong war, the Canaanites did not participate due to their beliefs, and did not believe that they themselves were under threat by the U.S. government. The few Canaanites who joined the Nauvoo Legion would later return to arm their communities. In the aftermath of the war, the Mormons returned to their original settlements in the Salt Lake Valley, only to discover that the Canaanites had now entered into the region as well. Although Young continued to push for a harmonious coexistence with the Canaanites, and invited a pluralistic society, other leaders in the Church and laymen were wary of the Canaanites. When some of the Church leaders proposed as a solution to apostates, the controversial and unpopular doctrine was blamed on the Canaanites' own practices of bloodletting. As the years passed, Mormons and Canaanites lived together with no major incidents, and interfaith marriage was even practiced. Nonetheless, clear differences between the two groups would later evolve into open, abject hostilities. During the , U.S. troops left the Utah Territory to fight the in the Eastern United States, leaving Utah briefly without military defense until the arrival of General . Connor's men, who were discontent with their assignment, frequently traveled, exploring Utah, and would eventually find mineral deposits in present-day Morganland. Thirsty for conflict, Connor provoked an unauthorized attack against the Shoshone tribes in in January 1863, and killed between 200 and 400 Shoshone men, women, and children. The massacre, now referred to as the , technically occurred in present-day Rainier, just north of the Deseret's present-day borders. Starting in 1865, an Ute chief by the name of and other Indian chiefs led raids and skirmishes against the Mormons and Canaanites, after years of sporadic violence committed against both sides over land use, and the mistreatment of the Ute at the hands of the white settlers. Over 100 battles and other conflicts between 1865 and 1872 occurred, and it was during this time when tensions between the Mormons and Canaanites also unraveled, as they had begun to see each other as competitors over local resources and property. It was during at this time however, when the War of Contingency had erupted across North America. Although the American Civil War won with the Union preserved, President was , leading the Union into political chaos and social breakdown. In response, several regions seceded, forming their own nations, including the Confederacy's second secession, New England and (now the Hudson) seceding, and the western territories that included Utah breaking away as well as the Federal Republic of Missouri. The parts of the Union remained, reorganized itself under the centralist government of the United Commonwealth, and began an aggressive campaign to retake its lost territories, as well as conquering Brazoria, Rainier, and Sierra, which were never part of the United States. The United Commonwealth made impressive gains, nearly capturing all of Missouri and reaching near Utah, before Sierran and Brazorian forces pushed back, and eventually defeated the United Commonwealth at the Battle of Salinas, and enforcing the new political landscape of the breakaway states. The official treaty that ended the conflict, the Christmas Accords, was signed in 1868, and within the agreement, Missouri transferred much of the Utah Territory to Sierra as a consolatory offering for the Sierran contribution in liberating Missouri. In addition, Missouri, which was sparsely populated at the time, was wary of administering Mormon and Canaanite lands, and believed it was best if it were handled by another nation. Although the Canaanites accepted and recognized the transfer, the Mormons did not, feeling that they were placed in the care of another country that wrangled their political independence out of their own hands. In addition, many Mormons held deep republican convictions, and objected to rule by Sierra's monarchy, especially considering the fact that the King was a . Sierran troops returning from the American Midwest were instructed to garrison the newly acquired territory of Utah, and await the arrival of a Lord Proprietor who would oversee the administration. Lord Garrett Schinke, who was commissioned to serve, arrived to Salt Lake City in late 1869, was welcomed warmly by the Canaanites while rejected by the Mormons, including Young, whom they viewed as a usurper. Young was open to compromise with the Sierrans however, and sought to establish the Deseret as a province with himself as the governor, as he had proposed years ago with the United States government. The Sierran government refused to grant the Deseret provincial status, angering many Mormons, some of whom began following fundamentalist leader Tyler McNeill, whose rhetoric was quite reactionary and hostile towards the new Sierran government. Meanwhile, Young's health weakened his leadership and control over the Mormon community, allowing to McNeill to rise in his influence. In addition to his anti-Sierran sentiments, he professed open anti-Canaanism, accusing them as "heathens seeking to unseat God's holy people" from the Deseret, and encouraged to his fellow followers to drive out the Canaanites like the "Indian savages", and also sought to disfellowship any Mormons who disagreed with his positions. Health complications would eventually befall Brigham Young, who fell gravely ill from , and later died of from a rupture of his in 1877. Canaanite-Mormon War 20th century Contemporary era Government and politics , the current President of the Deseret and the Church.]] The Deseret has the political framework of a with a , in which the government is parallely tied to the leadership and organization of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints while also being under the supreme jurisdiction of the Kingdom of Sierra. The President, the country's , must also constitutionally be the . Since the President of the Church is selected by the , the Church alone decides who leads the state, as opposed to the state selecting who leads the church. Within the Church, the President serves their term for life, and upon their death or resignation, are succeeded by the most senior member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (usually the President of the Quorum), which is roughly the equivalent of a secular . The President himself forms a part of the three-member which comprises of the President and his advisers: the First Counselor and the Second Counselor. Under special circumstances, there may be additional counselors within the First Presidency. These counselors must be from the Quorum of Twelve although there have been exceptions. In order to allow the leadership of the Church to focus on administering and ministering to the Church, the Standing Executive Committee (SEC), a 12-member board of directors, appointed by the President, each of whom are responsible for a particular executive department, carry out and perform state functions. Together, the Standing Executive Committee serves as the President's advisers on the affairs of the state, and assist in managing the government. Nonetheless, the Standing Executive Committee is legally subservient to the Quorum, and traditionally is set up where each board member shadows a member of the Quorum. Any decisions made by the Committee can be overturned by the Quorum and members may be removed from the Committee at any given time, at the pleasure of the President. Consequently, members may serve without terms, and in some instances, have served for life, even outliving their appointee. The is the Monarch of the Kingdom, whose primary residency is outside the Deseret, in Porciúncula, Sierra. Although none of the Monarchs have ever been Mormon, the Deseret nonetheless proclaims and accepts the royal title of Righteous King/Queen (Sovereign) of the Deseret, asserting that the Monarch has been blessed by God and suited to rule in their capacity as both a secular and spiritual figure. Generally, the Monarch abstains from interfering with the spiritual matters of the state, and allows the President to assume the role of religious leadership. The official residence of the Royal Family in the Deseret is the Marmalade Manor, which the Monarch and other members of the Household stays during their annual visit to the Deseret around March or April. The national legislature of the Deseret is the Council of Fifty, a body with fifty members, each elected from one of the fifty counties of the Deseret. Elections are held every four years and are elected on a . The Council is responsible for creating legislation and appropriating funds for the government. Role of the Church Pursuant to the Deseret's commitment with the created by founder and prophet , the Church is integrated into the political structure of the Deseret. Although Smith did not appear to support a unified church and state, church leaders have insisted that although the Deseret government is indeed heavily dependent on the Church, it is secular. The exclusion of non-Mormons from the majority of the Deseret's posts are in-line with the belief that the government must be run by holy and righteous individuals ordained by God. The ultimate purpose and goal of the Church's role in the theodemocracy is to promote the creation of , in anticipation of the . Many political and civil positions can only be filled by members of the Church, with the President a major example. In order to be President of the Deseret, the individual must also be , who in turn, can only be elected by the . In addition, many executive positions at the district-level often require that leaders be members of the Church, as all districts correspond directly with ecclesiastical districts. Despite the system heavily favoring Mormon citizens, there has been various occasions a non-Mormon citizen has been elected into and served in office, although in all such cases, these were done at the local-level. In any post requiring membership in the LDS Church, should the individual convert to another faith or become by the Church, they immediately lose political legitimacy and are removed from the post. The inexplicably large and ingrained role of the Church in the Deseret government is controversial and has often been criticized in the contemporary era. Contrary to popular belief, while the system is clearly theocratic and would appear to violate the Sierran doctrine of , this provision is only effective in Sierra by which the Constitution fully applies. The Deseret, as a constituent, but separate country within the Kingdom, is protected under the Charter (which applies to all countries) which deliberately lacks anything regarding church and state, and is permitted by the same document to create its own constitution and laws regarding government structure. Although the Constitution of the Deseret upholds and protects the freedom of religion, it does not provide for a doctrine on the separation of church and state. Meanwhile, several statutes, collectively known as the Lehite Code, are responsible for the legal prohibition against non-Mormon officeholders in most posts, and integration of the Church in the government. In the landmark 1999 Supreme Court Cunningham v. Welch case, the Court ruled that although the Deseret's laws on depriving non-Mormons of political rights were inherently "undemocratic", the laws did not wholly compromise the government's democratic nature (which is a requirement of all governments within the Kingdom) as the laws themselves were contrived through democratic means, and were passed in pursuant to the democratic passage, and the laws did not violate any provisions within the Charter (which, barring CAS law, is the only law in the Kingdom that must be applied to all countries in the Kingdom), and operates in line with government self-rule. As a result of these conclusions, the Court also found itself lacking any jurisdiction on laws endemic to the Deseret, and could not act upon the statutes, leaving the matter to be settled within the Deseret. Administrative divisions In the Deseret, there are six PSAs, known as areas, which are officially the country's administrative divisions. They were created in 1950 after the Deseret's promotion to country status to satisfy legal requirements stipulated by the National Charter. Beyond representing each of its own constituents with three senators and one commoner to Parliament, areas do not have any formal function or authority, and lacks the power to lay taxes, create laws, or provide basic services. Although each area is headed by a Lord or Lady Superintendent (appointed by the Queen), and an Area Commissioner (similar to a governor) who is elected by the area's constituents, both possess no real roles as their Sierran and Hawaiian counterparts, and have a limited capacity in maintaining communication between county leaders and the national government. Each area is further divided into counties, which operate similarly to Sierran and Hawaiian counties, with local government, laws, services, and courts. There are a total of fifty counties in the Deseret, and all are analogously and conterminously tied with the Church's fifty stakes in the Deseret. Law and criminal justice The President appoints all of the 7 judges who compose of the Supreme Court, and are charged with dealing with all appellate cases sent from inferior courts on civil and criminal matters. It is the only institution in the Deseret which is devoid of religious authority or jurisdiction, as all ecclesiastical and spiritual matters are handled directly by the Church. Nonetheless, all courts in the Deseret justice system may hear cases regarding violations of religious law, but may only issue non-binding decisions regarding it. Depending on the nature and severity of the crime, along with the religious belief of the offender, the individual may or may not be disciplined accordingly. Generally, only Mormon citizens can expect some form of disciplinary action if the crime could be considered a sin, but not prosecutable under secular law, while non-Mormons, including Christians, would be exempt from any action. More severe crimes however, such as murder or rape, can not only be treated as a secular crime, but a religious one, irrespective of the criminal's faith, and can see their sentences lengthened by the court per the advice of a local church elder. The Ecclesiastical Court is a special court that handles the crimes committed by Mormon and who serve within the Church in some administrative function. The Ecclesiastical Court functions independently from the secular court system, and only has jurisdiction over Mormon individuals. Rulings by the Court cannot be appealed to any other court, and consequently, the decisions of the Court are final. Although there are secular and religious courts, there is only a secular prison system, and a civil police. Cases handled within the secular court system generally include a jury of impaneled citizens who determines the verdict, and a judge, who determines the sentence, if the defendant is convicted. In addition, the Deseret follows most aspects of Sierran and Anglo-American common law tradition, with judges basing their decisions on precedents. Unique to the Deseret however, they can draw on examples found in the Bible or one of the Mormon Standard Works as well, and use it as legal pretext or justification for their decisions. Geography, climate, and environment The Deseret has wide-ranging variation in terrain and biomes, ranging from sand-capped deserts to forested mountains. Three distinct North American geological regions meet within the Deseret: the , the , and the . The Northeastern Deseret is dominated by large mountain ranges such as the and the along the Sierran–Rainian border. Generally, the Eastern Deseret features much larger, and grouped mountain ranges running in an east-west orientation, with intermediary valleys and basins, while the Western Deseret is generally flatter as part of the Great Basin, with numerous small mountain ranges known as s. The very southern part of the Deseret is also relatively mountainous, at the top of the , a wide sequence of abruptly descending terrain similar to the appearance of a staircase from the areas of Iron and Zion to the Sierran provinces of Mohave, Flagstaff, and Apache. Economy and infrastructure The economy of the Deseret has a Western-styled which is diversified with the largest sectors being manufacturing, tourism, agriculture, and mining. It has one of the largest information technology industries in the Kingdom, and is the top producer in both coal and petroleum, where the extraction of both are mainly concentrated on the eastern part of the country. In addition, the Deseret has one of the largest productions in salt in the world. Demography Religion The overwhelming majority of Deseretians are Mormons, accounting for 81% according to the Sierra Royal Bureau of Census in 2010. The Deseret has the largest concentration and proportion of Mormons in the world as the central hub of Mormonism, and the homeland of the Church. Nearly all Mormons in the Deseret are members of , while a small minority belong to one of the several existing in the country. Independent or liberal Mormon sects also exist, though such groups have been subject to legal scrutiny and discrimination by the Church. The next largest religious group in the Deseret are the Canaanites who make up roughly 10% of the country, and live mainly in northern Zion and southern Emery. Most Canaanites in the Deseret are Sanctionists, while a minority of Canaanites are Baahgulists, Universalists, or independent Sanctionists. About 8% of the Deseret belong to some other Christian group, mainly or . The remaining 1% includes , , , and . Language Military , depicting a honeybee hive and the initials, C.T.R., or " ", a popular Mormon motto.]] As a constituent country, the Deseret's defense forces are part of the Sierran Crown Armed Forces. Forces primarily stationed in the Deseret are part of the Forces' branch in the Deseret. Distinct Deseretian regiments in the Sierran Army include the Royal Enoch Guards and the Sons of Adam Corps. In addition to the Sierran Crown Armed Forces, the Deseret has its own militia, the National Guard of the Deseret, which is under the command of the President, and can be summoned during the times of emergency or crisis. Due to the Deseret's geographic isolation and relative remoteness, the country is the location of several important military bases and establishments including , the , and the . Culture Cuisine Deseretian culture is influenced by American Southwest cuisine from Brazoria and Arizonan Sierra, and the innovations of Mormon and Canaanite cooking. Eating together in potlucks served as a prominent social function for churches, and convenient, easily prepared foods were favored among Mormons. Popular and famous dishes today in the Deseret including s, , and originated from Mormon cooking. consumption is widespread throughout the Deseret, and was declared the national dish of the Deseret in 2003, despite it being produced and invented by , an Appalachian-based company. Canaanite cooking followed similar trends with Mormon cooking, favoring adding a new spin on traditional, commercial foods. Casingden soup (a chicken broth soup with lentils, celery, corn, carrots, potatoes, shredded cheese, and lamb meat) is extremely popular among Canaanites, and the most recognizable dish from Canaanite cuisine, and a popular dish in the Deseret. Religion in society , particularly that which is promoted by , the Deseret's state church, has had a profound impact in Deseretian society, and continues to play a major role in the lives of all citizens, Mormon and non-Mormon. Canaanism, the second largest religion in the country, has been stigmatized and confined to small Canaanite communities in the central eastern region of the Deseret, although aspects of its influence on cuisine, literature, and politics are noticeably significant. Sports National symbols The most widely used symbol to represent the Deseret is the or the which represents hard work and . The name Deseret itself means "honeybee" according to the , believed by Mormons to be the word used by the , an ancient group that supposedly traveled to North America during the time of the 's construction. See also *Kingdom of Sierra **Sierra **Hawaii |state = expanded }} Category:Kingdom of Sierra Category:Deseret Category:Altverse Category:Nations